“You’re going to harmony?” C.J said when I phoned to tell her the news, “Why would they want you? You’re just farmers.”
“They need to grow food there too. And my dad is one of the only ones who can still grow food.”
“I guess. So what are you going to do there, Farm? My dad is administrator of education!”
“My dad is the assistant to the environment administrator….”
”Assistant? Thats, um, great…look, I’ve got to go Dec.”
“I’ll see you at Harmony then?”
”Sure, I guess. Bye Declan.”
******************
In Harmony.
Because of C.J’s reaction to my father being included in the colony, I worried about how we were going to fit in with the other colonists. Would we be looked down on and judged for being farmers? So I was relieved when a group of neighbours immediately arrived to welcome us.
Even the Govenor showed up to welcome us.
In amongst the group of people swarming our our property was one girl about my age. I didn’t notice her right away, as she stood out of the crowd, just looking around at everything. She suddenly spotted our pond and exclaimed, “You guys have a real pond!”
I looked at her, then at the pond. “It’s not as big as our old one,” I said. The truth was, I was disappointed that the house we had been assigned was not the Colony’s main farm. We hadn’t even been assigned a greenhouse or fruit trees. Dad had tried to cheer me up, explaining that it was just because of his age and that it was wiser to have someone younger looking after the main farm. I still felt…I don’t know, just insulted. Like we weren’t good enough for the main farm. I mean, who was this Kadia person anyway? I had never heard of her.
The girl walked over to me and started talking. I found out that her name was Trina.
“You had an actual pond in your old home?” She asked, staring at me with these wide eyes. I sometimes forgot that owning any sort of nature was a big deal.
“Do you want to try fishing?” I asked her.
She clapped her hands and laughed, “Yes!” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling in return. I went and got the poles and taught Trina how to cast. It was fun, teaching a girl about my farm skills. C.J had never had any interest in them. When I had Trina set up, I cast my own line into the water. In no time we both had a bite. I reeled in my fish and just stared at it. It was healthy and shiney and had no deformities. As I stared at it, I forgot all about not being assigned the main farm.
Our neighbours stayed well into the evening before finally heading back to their own homes. When they had left, my father lite a fire and sat down next to me in the living room.
“What do you think of your new home so far?” He asked me
“Everyone seems really nice,” I said, “And you should sete the trout I caught! It was sooo cool!”
He smiled, “So, the move is still good? Even though we didn’t get the main farm?”
“Yeah, Dad, it’s okay. The move is good” I meant it. The move was good. I believed things were going to work out good in Harmony.
The next day when I had gotten back from exploring the colony with Trina, my father was out working in our small garden plot
He saw me come through the gate and smiled, “I wanted to test out these fresh soils. See how things grow.”
“Cool, can I help?” I asked.
“I was hoping you would ask. My old back doesn’t hold up as well as it used to.”
I grabbed some of the fertilizer we had been assigned and got to work with dad.
“So…you seem to be hitting it off with Trina,” My father said as we worked together.
I blushed, “Yeah, she’s nice. Do you know she asked me how to plant seeds? She didn’t even know how.” I laughed.
My father eyed me and then asked, “Have you had a chance to talk to C.J. yet?”
“Um, not, not yet.”
“Well you’ll have time,” my father said, “It’s good to get to know the other colonists.”
“Yeah.” I didn’t tell him about the converstaion C.J. and I had had before we both left for Harmoy. Truth was, I was still upset about it. And if C.J cared about me so much, why hadn’t she tried to get in touch with me? Maybe she didn’t want to be associated with a family that were just ‘farmers.’
Dad caught the frown on my face, “Is something wrong Declan?”
“No dad, everything is good,” I lied and then changed the subject, “This place is amazing, isn’t it?”
My dad didn’t push me and let me change the subject. We continued with the garden, talking about the things we had seen and nothing important.
*********
That night, before bed I stared at the telephone on my desk and thought of C.J. All I had to do was pick it up and dial her number. I went to it, and placed my hand on the reciever. I couldn’t though, get myself to dial the number.
Ha–I think he’s better without C.J. anyway! She seems like a total loss! Better find a girl who actually has some interests and wants to learn about their new lives.
He needs to stick with Trina. She’s much nicer and will work with him on the farm.